You might reasonably wonder why anyone would shoulder a heavy backpack, grab a walking stick and hike across Spain. Whatever happened to planes, trains and automobiles? But Father Dave Pivonka knew that the Camino—the ancient pilgrim path to the tomb of Saint James the Apostle in Santiago—offered an opportunity to focus on God in the stripped-down environment typical of the religious journey known as a pilgrimage.

Father Dave takes you along with him, eager to show that God wants to take care of you whether or not you can see down the road or, if tired and sore, you're tempted to quit. His Camino hike holds real lessons for your own life's journey.

Fr. Dave Pivonka, T.O.R., is the director of seminary formation for the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular. He has been a priest for ten years and absolutely loves his calling. Fr. Dave preaches at conferences around the U.S. and leads pilgrimages around the world. He wrote the book Spiritual Freedom: God's Like-Changing Gift.

Though I’m not really much of an outdoorsy person, I knew I wanted to read Hiking the Camino: 500 Miles with Jesus as soon as my brother in Christ told me he was reading this book about a priest who goes on a walking pilgrimage across Spain as a way of thanking the Lord for his vocation as a priest.

I expected there to be some deep spiritual insights gleaned from more quiet time in nature than the average person usually has, and there are indeed plenty of those included which Fr. Dave Pivonka, T.O.R. had along the way. What I didn’t expect but absolutely love is that the tone and writing are so down-to-earth and genuine. More than once while reading Fr. Pivonka’s escapades and his subsequent reflections on them I was laughing right out loud, always something I appreciate in a book and in life.